Not bad for a flyboy
by Frontline
Summary: On a stop over at Terminus Station, Wedge meets Cinche, a civilian engineer with an attitude when the station comes under attack by pirates.


Terminus Station

Outer Rim

Wedge climbed down out of the cockpit of his X-Wing and removed his helmet, looking around at Terminus Station. Like most hanger decks, it was noisy and cluttered, filled with an eclectic mix of spacecraft from single-person fighters like his all the way up to battered bulk freighters. As he looked around, he saw a woman in dirty, grease-stained coveralls walking towards him, her blond hair just visible under her scratched helmet.

'Excuse me.' He said, moving to intercept her. 'I'll need my ship refuelled and...'

'You'll have to get in line, flyboy.' She said, folding her arms across her chest. 'I've got a lot of ships to see to before I get to yours.'

Wedge ground his teeth together as she brushed past him, climbing the ramp of a Cargo Ferry parked on the other side of the hanger and disappearing inside.

 _Well, looks like I'll be here for a while..._

Wedge returned to the Hanger an hour later, having grabbed a shower and a quick bite to eat. Returning to his X-Wing, he was pleased to a see a fuelling line connected to the port, his smile fading as the engineer appeared from behind the fighter.

'You'll be refuelled in an hour.' She said, wiping her hands on a rag. 'Anything else?'

'No.' Wedge said. 'Thank y...' He began, when she gave him a dirty look and stalked off.

'What's her problem?' Wedge asked as he scrambled up onto the fuselage next to Mynock, his red and white R5 unit. Mynock beeped non-commitally and Wedge climbed into the cockpit, activating the diagnostics.

'Systems status?' He asked and Mynock beeped again, text scrolling across the screen.

"Cinche has commenced refuelling and internal capacitors are charging. Estimated time to completion is 55 minutes."

'Cinche?' Wedge asked.

"She is an interesting human. We share a similar opinion as to the illogical nature of organic species."

'I bet.' Wedge said, with a wry smile as he climbed out of the cockpit. Dropping back to the deck, he looked up to see a battered old YT-1300 settling down to land. They were a common enough craft in the Outer Rim, but something about it drew his attention. As he watched, the hatch opened and a Mon Calamari descended the ramp. Calmly, he drew a blaster pistol and shot the security guard who had been lounging nearby in the chest. Wedge ducked behind his X-Wing as he fired again, the other guard killed halfway through drawing his own weapon. The Mon Calamari thumped on the hull and ten more figures came down the ramp, each carrying pistols of their own. At a command from the Mon Cal, they headed towards the crates that lined the room and started blasting open the locks.

 _Pirates..._

Wedge drew his own blaster pistol and rose into a crouch, snapping off a shot that struck a Sullustan pirate in the back. The others swung round towards him and he managed a second shot before their return fire forced him back under cover. Mynock shrieked in alarm, blaster bolts ricocheting off the fuselage as Wedge scrambled towards the rear of the fighter, his next bolt catching a human male in the neck. He was about to fire again when he heard the click of a weapon's safety.

'Drop it.' A harsh voice said and Wedge raised his hands, half-turning to see a Twi'lek female standing over him with a blaster pistol aimed at his head.

'Drop it.' She repeated and Wedge was about to comply when there was a sharp crack and the Twi'lek was thrown backwards against his X-Wing. Wedge looked up to see Cinche crouching next to him holding a scattergun.

'Stay down.' She hissed, rising up to fire another shot towards the Pirates, a Rodian and a Bothan falling. She swung her scattergun to the left and Wedge pulled her down, a blaster bolt sizzling through the space where she had been standing, returning fire with deadly accuracy.

' _You_ stay down.' He snapped, his return shot dropping the human that had almost killed her and the remaining pirates seemed to lose heart, turning and sprinting back towards their ship. Wedge snapped off a shot towards the Mon Calamari, but he was already ducking inside and the shot missed, scorching the metal of the ramp. The last pirate scrambled inside and the hatch closed, the vessel lifting off to blast out of the hanger and Wedge sat back with a sigh. Holstering his pistol, he glanced left at Cinche, who took a swig from a small hip flask before holding it out to Wedge. He hesitated for a second before taking it and downing a shot, the taste of Corellian Whisky warming his throat.

'Not bad for a flyboy...' She said, with a grin


End file.
